IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
No. 17–0202
Filed June 15, 2018
JOSEPH WALSH,
Appellant,
vs.
TERESA WAHLERT and THE STATE OF IOWA,
Appellant.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D.
Huppert, Judge.
Former chief administrative law judge appeals grant of summary
judgment on a claim of retaliation under the whistleblower protection
statute in Iowa Code section 70A.28 and a claim of wrongful discharge in
violation of public policy. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART,
AND REMANDED.
Megan Flynn and Michael J. Carroll of Coppola, McConville,
Coppola, Carroll, Hockenberg & Scalise, P.C., West Des Moines, for
appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Jeffrey Thompson, Solicitor
General, and Jeffrey C. Peterzalek, Assistant Attorney General, for
appellees.
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APPEL, Justice.
In this case, we consider wrongful-termination-of-employment and
failure-to-hire claims brought by Joseph Walsh, a former chief
administrative law judge of the Unemployment Insurance Appeals
Bureau in Iowa Workforce Development (IWD), against the then-IWD
director Teresa Wahlert and against the State. Walsh brought two
claims. First, Walsh alleged retaliation under the whistleblower
protection provisions of Iowa Code section 70A.28 (2014). The thrust of
Walsh’s whistleblower claim was that he was fired because he reached
out to other government officials in an attempt to prevent the IWD
director and the State from unlawfully converting his position from a
merit into a nonmerit position. Walsh further alleged the defendants
continued to retaliate against him when he sought other positions in
state government. Walsh’s second claim alleged a common law tort of
wrongful termination in violation of public policy based upon the same
conduct.
The defendants moved for summary judgment, which the district
court granted. The district court reasoned that Walsh could not bring a
claim under Iowa Code section 70A.28 because he had failed to exhaust
the administrative remedies available to merit employees under Iowa
Code section 8A.415. The district court also granted summary judgment
on the common law public policy claim for the same reason.
Walsh appealed. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm in
part and reverse in part the judgment of the district court and remand
the case to the district court for further proceedings.
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I. Factual and Procedural Background.
A. Factual Overview.
1. Employment of Walsh by IWD. Walsh was appointed by
Governor Chet Culver to the position of Deputy Director of IWD, a
nonmerit position which Walsh held from 2007 until early in January
2011. Effective January 7, 2011, Walsh became chief administrative law
judge of IWD, a merit position under Iowa Code chapter 8A. As chief
administrative law judge, he reported directly to the director of IWD.
Governor Terry Branstad appointed Wahlert as director effective
January 15, 2011.
2. Walsh notified of reclassification of position of chief
administrative law judge as confidential nonmerit employee. About two
years after Wahlert’s appointment, in January 2013, the department of
administrative services (DAS) sent a memorandum to all department
directors regarding a change in the definition of a “confidential employee”
not subject to merit employment. DAS identified the position of chief
administrative law judge as a confidential employee under the new
definition. On April 5, Jon Nelson, the human resources manager of
IWD, delivered a letter to Walsh stating that his position would no longer
be covered by the merit system. The letter advised Walsh that if he
believed his position did not meet the definition of confidential employee
under the new administrative rule, he could appeal the determination.
Walsh met with Nelson. Walsh claims he informed Nelson that it
was a violation of the Social Security Act and guidance of the United
States Department of Labor (DOL) for a chief administrative law judge to
be classified as a nonmerit employee. Walsh also asserts he provided
documentation to Nelson. According to Walsh, Nelson agreed to put the
whole matter “on hold” while he did some further research. Specifically,
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Walsh states that Nelson assured him that his status would not change
without his knowledge. Walsh then left on vacation and returned on
April 21, one day after the appeal deadline, believing the matter was
placed on hold by Nelson. Upon his return, Walsh states that Nelson
informed him on several occasions that DAS was still reviewing the
matter. Nonetheless, Walsh asserts that Nelson informed him on May 21
that Walsh was no longer a merit employee and that his new status
became effective when he was on vacation.
3. Walsh’s contact with United States Department of Labor and
subsequent IWD review of reclassification. Walsh claims he contacted the
DOL regional office in Chicago on May 22, 2013, and was informed that
any administrative law judge, whether managerial or not, must be a
merit employee. Walsh maintains he opened an official “complaint” with
the DOL on that date.
Walsh informed Wahlert that he had contacted the DOL and that
DAS had made a serious legal error. Walsh subsequently met with
Wahlert and explained in detail what he saw as an error, along with the
potential federal DOL consequences. Wahlert, who was not a lawyer,
directed Walsh to contact Ryan Lamb, general counsel for DAS, to
discuss the matter.
Walsh asserts he met with Lamb on May 31. According to Walsh,
Lamb stated that he had relied upon Wahlert’s representation that Walsh
did not spend much time deciding cases and that his position was
“mostly managerial.” Walsh advised Lamb that this was not the case.
Walsh further asserts that Lamb told him the change in classification
was not his legal decision but was Wahlert’s policy decision. Lamb
agreed to contact DOL to get further information and reassess the
situation.
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Walsh asserts that he talked with Lamb on the phone on June 11.
According to Walsh, Lamb informed him that it was not legal and/or
allowable under federal DOL guidelines to make the chief administrative
law judge a nonmerit employee as long as the person in the position
heard cases.
4. Change in job description of chief administrative law judge by
IWD results in more Walsh complaints. Shortly after the June 11
conversation between Walsh and Lamb, Wahlert called Walsh into her
office for a meeting with her and Nelson. At the meeting, Wahlert
provided Walsh with a new job description that required Walsh to cease
hearing cases. According to Walsh, Wahlert directed him to review the
new job description, think about it, and give her his input.
On June 12, Walsh emailed Wahlert, expressing discomfort with
the proposed change. Wahlert responded by email declaring the new job
description in effect. Walsh replied that he was processing several cases
and that it was impossible for him to begin working under the new job
description in the midst of deciding multiple cases. Wahlert responded
that Walsh could complete the cases.
Walsh emailed complaints to the office of Governor Branstad, the
DOL, and members of the IWD board on June 13. Walsh sent a second
email to DOL and contacted a state senator and a state representative
regarding his concerns. A week later, on June 20, Wahlert sent Walsh a
letter rescinding efforts to make his position nonmerit.
5. IWD terminates Walsh through layoff. On July 15, Walsh
received a letter advising him that he had been laid off. According to
Walsh, IWD staff escorted him out of the office. The layoff plan that was
sent to DAS characterized the layoff as a reduction in force due to a
budget shortfall. Walsh claims that prior to July 15, neither Wahlert nor
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any person in the IWD’s financial management bureau had informed him
of any budget issue. Walsh asserts that the bureau was, in fact, under
budget.
6. Posttermination employment. After his termination, Walsh
asserts that he attempted to mitigate his damages by seeking other
employment with the State. Walsh claims that Wahlert interfered with
his effort to become employed at the Iowa Division of Workers’
Compensation because he filed complaints against her with a state
agency. On January 16, 2014, Walsh accepted the position of Deputy
Workers’ Compensation Commissioner in the Division of Workers’
Compensation within IWD. Wahlert approved an authorization
permitting Walsh to receive an advanced appointment rate.
B. Administrative and District Court Challenges.
1. Administrative proceedings before the Iowa Public Employment
Relations Board. After his termination, Walsh filed a noncontract
grievance and then an appeal to the Iowa Public Employment Relations
Board (PERB) regarding his July 15 layoff. Walsh, however, voluntarily
dismissed the appeal prior to a PERB hearing.
2. Petition filed in district court. On April 3, Walsh filed the petition
in this matter in district court. He originally claimed that the defendants
terminated his employment in violation of Iowa Code section 70A.28. In
January 2015, Walsh filed an unresisted motion for leave to amend the
petition to state a common law claim for wrongful termination in
violation of public policy and to request reinstatement as part of the relief
requested.
3. District court ruling on motion for summary judgment. The
defendants filed a motion for summary judgment. Among other things,
the defendants argued that Walsh, as a merit employee, failed to exhaust
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administrative remedies with PERB under Iowa Code section 8A.415 and
Iowa Administrative Code rules 11—61.1 and .2. With respect to the
common law claim, defendants similarly asserted that Walsh’s exclusive
remedy existed under Iowa Code chapter 8A and that Walsh was not
entitled to bring a common law claim outside the statutory framework.
The defendants also argued that wrongful-termination claims in violation
of public policy are available only for at-will employees.
Walsh resisted. He claimed that the remedy provided in Iowa Code
section 70A.28 was available to merit system employees. Walsh argued
that exhaustion of remedies with PERB was not required for a claim
brought under section 70A.28.
Walsh further asserted that he was entitled to bring a common law
claim for retaliatory discharge outside of Iowa Code section 70A.28 and
without exhausting administrative remedies in Iowa Code chapter 8A. In
order to bring such a common law claim for violation of public policy,
Walsh asserted there was no requirement that he be an at-will employee.
The district court granted the defendants’ motion for summary
judgment. With respect to the statutory whistleblower claim, the district
court applied a two-step test to determine if the claim was barred for
failure to pursue administrative remedies under Iowa Code section
8A.415. First, the district court found that the administrative framework
provided Walsh an adequate remedy. Second, the district court found
that while Iowa Code section 8A.415 did not expressly require
exhaustion, the statute impliedly did so by providing a mechanism for an
aggrieved merit system employee to obtain an administrative remedy and
to appeal final agency action to the district court. On the question of the
common law claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy,
the district court concluded that such a claim was not available to a
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merit employee, but only to an at-will employee. The district court did
not rule on other grounds presented in support of the motion for
summary judgment.
II. Standard of Review.
On appeal, we review a district court’s ruling on a motion for
summary judgment for correction of errors at law. Fennelly v. A-1 Mach.
& Tool Co., 728 N.W.2d 181, 185 (Iowa 2007). Summary judgment is
appropriate only
if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and
admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show
that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and
that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of
law.
Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.981(3). “A proper grant of summary judgment depends
on the legal consequences flowing from the undisputed facts or from the
facts viewed most favorably toward the resisting party.” Boles v. State
Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 494 N.W.2d 656, 657 (Iowa 1992).
III. Discussion.
A. Statutory Framework.
1. Iowa’s whistleblower statute. We begin our discussion by
reviewing relevant terms of Iowa’s whistleblower statute, Iowa Code
section 70A.28. The first sentence of subsection 2 of the statute is a
151-word linguistic jungle. Parsing of the sentence reveals the following
relevant portions,
A person shall not discharge an employee . . . as a reprisal
. . . for a disclosure of any information by that employee to a
member or employee of the general assembly . . . or a
disclosure of information to any other public official or law
enforcement agency if the employee reasonably believes the
information evidences a violation of law or rule . . . .
Iowa Code § 70A.28(2).
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Section 70A.28(5) declares that the above provision “may be
enforced through a civil action.” Id. § 70A.28(5). In such a civil action, a
person who is found to have violated the statute is liable to an aggrieved
employee “for affirmative relief including reinstatement, with or without
back pay, or any other equitable relief the court deems appropriate,
including attorney fees and costs.” Id. § 70A.28(5)(a). An aggrieved party
may also seek injunctive relief from the district court in a civil action “to
prohibit the person from continuing such acts.” Id. § 70A.28(5)(b).
Section 70A.28 also provides that the prohibitions in subsection 2
may be enforced through an administrative action if the employee is not
a merit employee. Id. § 70A.28(6). Such an appeal is to be filed with the
PERB within thirty calendar days of the effective date of such action. Id.
If the PERB finds a violation of subsection 2, the PERB may reinstate the
employee without loss of pay or benefits for the elapsed period, or the
PERB “may provide other appropriate remedies.” Id.
2. Merit system remedy. Iowa Code sections 8A.411 through
8A.418 provide the statutory framework for the merit system. Iowa Code
section 8A.415 relates to grievance and discipline resolution procedures
for merit employees. In general, this section provides that an aggrieved
merit system employee who has been terminated may appeal the
disciplinary action to the director within seven calendar days. Id.
§ 8A.415(2)(a). If not satisfied with the director’s decision, an employee
may within thirty calendar days file an appeal with the PERB. Id.
§ 8A.415(2)(b). If the PERB finds the disciplinary action discriminatory
or for other reasons “not constituting just cause,” the employee may be
reinstated without loss of pay or benefits for the elapsed period, or the
PERB “may provide other appropriate remedies.” Id. A decision of the
PERB constitutes a final agency action and may be challenged in district
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court pursuant to the provisions of Iowa Code chapter 17A. Id.
§ 8A.415(2)(b); id. § 17A.19.
Iowa Code section 8A.417 lists a number of prohibited actions. In
particular, section 8A.417(4) provides, in relevant part,
A person shall not discharge an employee . . . as a reprisal
for . . . a disclosure of any information by that employee to a
member or employee of the general assembly, or for a
disclosure of information to any other public official or law
enforcement agency if the employee reasonably believes the
information evidences a violation of law or rule . . . .
Id. § 8A.417(4). As is apparent, this language is nearly identical to the
prohibitory language in Iowa Code section 70A.28(2).
B. Relevant Caselaw. We now turn to an overview of the relevant
caselaw. We begin the discussion with two older cases considering
whether administrative remedies must be exhausted before bringing an
action directly in district court.
The first case is Riley v. Boxa, 542 N.W.2d 519 (Iowa 1996). In this
case, the city of Cedar Rapids denied a building permit to an applicant
who desired to convert an office in a building into an apartment. Id. at
520. Both Iowa Code section 414.10 and a local ordinance provided that
a person may appeal a decision of the zoning administrator to the board
of adjustment. Id. at 521. In Riley, the applicant sought to bypass the
administrative process and bring an action in district court. Id.
In determining whether an administrative remedy must be
exhausted in Riley, we applied a two-part test based on prior precedent.
Id.; see N. River Ins. v. Iowa Div. of Ins., 501 N.W.2d 542, 545 (Iowa
1993). First, the administrative remedy must be adequate. Riley, 542
N.W.2d at 521. Second, the governing statutes must expressly or
impliedly indicate that the administrative remedy must be exhausted
before allowing judicial review. Id.
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The Riley court noted that a showing of irreparable harm from
following the administrative process might provide an escape from the
general requirement of exhaustion by showing that the remedy was
inadequate. Id. at 522. The court emphasized, however, that mere
monetary loss from lost rent or payment of nonrefundable administrative
fees were insufficient irreparable harm to show that the administrative
remedy was inadequate. Id.
The Riley court then turned to the second prong of the test,
namely, whether Iowa Code section 414.10 or an applicable municipal
ordinance expressly or impliedly required exhaustion. Id. Because the
statute and ordinance contained no express requirement, the question
therefore turned on whether exhaustion could be implied. Id. The
applicant noted that under section 414.10 and the relevant city
ordinance, an appeal to the district court of a decision of the board “may”
be taken by an aggrieved party. Id. Because of the permissive use of the
term “may” in connection with taking an appeal from the board, the
applicant argued that the administrative remedy could be bypassed. Id.
The Riley court rejected the argument. Id. at 522–23. The court
recognized that a statute might permit resort to the courts even though
administrative remedies had not been exhausted. Id. at 522. In the
context of the case, however, we concluded that exhaustion of the
administrative remedy was required. Id. at 523. We cited cases standing
for the proposition that the mere fact that an appeal may be taken from
an administrative decision does not mean that a party does not need to
exhaust administrative remedies before resorting to the courts. Id. at
522.
A second case cited by the parties is Van Baale v. City of Des
Moines, 550 N.W.2d 153 (1996), abrogated on other grounds by Godfrey
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v. State, 898 N.W.2d 844, 864, 872 (Iowa 2017). In Van Baale, a police
officer was terminated from employment by the Des Moines Police
Department after pleading guilty to an obstruction of justice charge and
nolo contendere to a domestic abuse charge. Id. at 155. He contended
in a civil service hearing that his discharge was disproportionately harsh
given his exemplary record and that the chief of police had told him he
would retain him subject only to a thirty-day suspension if he pled guilty
to the charges. Id. The civil service commission rejected his arguments
and upheld the firing. Id. Van Baale appealed. Id.
While his appeal was pending, Van Baale brought an original
action in district court against the city of Des Moines and other
individual defendants alleging breach of oral contract, promissory
estoppel, negligence, denial of equal protection, and intentional infliction
of emotional distress. Id. The district court dismissed the petition,
holding that the civil service regime provided his exclusive remedy and
preempted his common law claims. Id.
On appeal of the dismissal of Van Baale’s common law claims, we
affirmed the district court. Id. We cited canons of statutory
construction, noting, among other things, that “[w]here the legislature
has provided a comprehensive scheme for dealing with a specified kind of
dispute, the statutory remedy provided is generally exclusive.” Id. at 156
(quoting 1A C.J.S. Actions § 14 n.55 (1985)). The Van Baale court
further emphasized that the civil service statute created a new right to
continued employment that did not exist at common law and, as a result,
it must be considered the exclusive means of challenging the
arbitrariness of a civil service employee’s discharge. Id.
While the intentional-infliction-of-emotional-distress claim
asserted rights not protected by the civil service statute, we rejected Van
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Baale’s claim on the merits, concluding that the alleged conduct of the
defendants did not rise to the “outrageous conduct” required to support
the common law tort. Id. at 157. We also rejected Van Baale’s equal
protection claims on grounds other than failure to exhaust
administrative remedies. Id.
Finally, there is a relatively recent case expressly dealing with the
question of whether the availability of another adequate administrative
remedy prevented a state employee from launching an action under Iowa
Code section 70A.28. In Worthington v. Kenkel, a state employee filed a
motion for injunctive relief under Iowa Code section 70A.28(5)(b) to
prevent her employer from terminating her employment. 684 N.W.2d
228, 229, 231 (Iowa 2004). The state employer resisted, noting that the
employee had another pretermination remedy under another statute. Id.
at 230.
The Worthington court noted that Iowa Code chapter 70A was a
“comprehensive chapter.” Id. However, the employee also had a remedy
under Iowa Code section 80.15, which provided that public employees
were entitled to an administrative hearing before taking disciplinary
actions resulting in loss of pay. Id. at 231. The district court determined
that because the employee could obtain the same remedy under Iowa
Code section 80.15 as under the whistleblower provisions of Iowa Code
section 70A.28, the employee could not seek injunctive relief under the
whistleblower statute because she had an adequate remedy at law. Id.
We rejected the reasoning of the district court. Id. at 233–34. We
emphasized that Iowa Code section 70A.28 established “a public policy
against retaliatory discharge of public employees and considers the
violation of the policy to be a public harm.” Id. at 233. Further, the
legislature had specifically authorized an injunction in the statute. Id.
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We thus reasoned that the existence of another available legal remedy
did not prevent the employee from seeking an injunction under Iowa
Code section 70A.28. Id. at 233–34. Worthington stands for the
proposition that an action for an injunction under Iowa Code section
70A.28 is not ousted by the availability of an adequate administrative
remedy.
C. Analysis of Claims Presented.
1. Whistleblower claim brought pursuant to Iowa Code section
70A.28. We first consider whether Walsh’s ability to bring a direct claim
under Iowa Code section 70A.28 is precluded by the availability of an
administrative remedy under Iowa Code section 8A.415. We conclude
that Walsh may bring the direct claim under Iowa Code section 70A.28.
We think the question turns on whether the legislature intended
the provisions of Iowa Code section 8A.415 to preempt the civil cause of
action established by the legislature in Iowa Code section 70A.28. We
have characterized the provisions of Iowa Code section 70A.28 as
“comprehensive.” Worthington, 684 N.W.2d at 230. And the
comprehensive whistleblower statute expressly authorizes a civil remedy
in subsection 5. Iowa Code § 70A.28(5).
Under our approach in Riley, an exhaustion requirement may arise
if the available administrative remedy is adequate and if the legislature,
expressly or impliedly, intended the administrative remedy to be
exclusive. 542 N.W.2d at 521. But nothing in Iowa Code chapter 8A
expressly requires administrative exhaustion before a whistleblower
launches a civil action under Iowa Code section 70A.28. Further, we do
not believe such exhaustion can be implied in light of the unequivocal
legislative declaration that a whistleblower may bring a civil action to
enforce Iowa Code section 70A.28. See Iowa Code § 70A.28(5).
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Our approach leads to symmetry between merit and nonmerit
whistleblowers. Under our interpretation of the comprehensive
whistleblower statute, merit and nonmerit whistleblowers may elect to
bring a civil action directly under Iowa Code section 70A.28(5) or pursue
an administrative remedy with the PERB.
This symmetry is consistent with our understanding of the
legislative history. The whistleblower statute was originally enacted in
1984. 1984 Iowa Acts ch. 1219, § 4 (codified at Iowa Code § 79.28 (1985)
(now § 70A.28)). In 1989, the statute was amended to add a civil
remedy. 1989 Iowa Acts ch. 124, §§ 2–3 (codified at Iowa Code § 79.28
(Supp. 1989) (now § 70A.28)). At the time the whistleblower statute was
amended to add a civil remedy, there were no administrative remedies
available for either merit or nonmerit state employees. Merit and
nonmerit employees were treated alike regarding the availability of a civil
remedy.
Iowa Code chapter 8A was enacted in 2003. 2003 Iowa Acts ch.
145 (codified at Iowa Code ch. 8A (Supp. 2003)). As originally enacted,
merit employees were provided with the grievance and discipline
provisions of Iowa Code section 8A.415. Id. § 63 (codified at Iowa Code
§ 8A.415). In addition, Iowa Code section 8A.417 contained a
whistleblower provision strikingly similar to that contained in Iowa Code
section 70A.28(2).
Notably, however, the legislature did not amend Iowa Code section
70A.28 when the merit employment provisions were enacted. Instead, in
2006, the legislature amended Iowa Code section 70A.28 to allow
nonmerit employees to bring an administrative claim under Iowa Code
chapter 8A as an alternative to the civil action available under Iowa Code
section 70A.28. 2006 Iowa Acts, ch. 1153, § 15 (codified at Iowa Code
16
§ 70A.28(6) (2007)). The 2006 amendment provides the same remedial
choice to merit and nonmerit employees.
Our approach is consistent with Worthington, 684 N.W.2d 228.
The Worthington court considered the question of whether a merit
employee could bring a civil action for injunctive relief under Iowa Code
section 70A.28(2) when the employee already had a right to a
pretermination hearing under another statute. Id. at 232. The court
concluded that the merit employee could bring the civil action. Id. at
233–34. It would be odd to allow merit employees to bring a civil action
seeking an injunction under 70A.28(2) but not allow other remedies
provided by the statute.
A final issue is raised by the provisions of Iowa Code section
17A.19 (2014), which provides that
[e]xcept as expressly provided otherwise by another statute
referring to this chapter by name, the judicial review
provisions of this chapter shall be the exclusive means by
which a person or party . . . may seek judicial review of such
agency action.
We have held that the remedies provided by Iowa Code chapter 17A are
exclusive for common law remedies. Salisbury Labs. v. Dep’t of Envtl.
Quality, 276 N.W.2d 830, 835 (Iowa 1979). And statutes which merely
declare that decisions of an administrative body are final are subject to
challenge through judicial review of agency action. Polk County v. Iowa
State Appeal Bd., 330 N.W.2d 267, 276 (Iowa 1983).
Here, however, is an unusual case in which we have a statute that
expressly creates an independent cause of action in the alternative to
administrative remedies under Iowa Code chapter 17A. While common
law claims and claims under statutes that merely authorize, structure, or
limit agency actions must be challenged through judicial review of
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agency actions pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 17A, the remedies under
statutes where the legislature has expressly created independent
statutory causes of action in the alternative to chapter 17A-type review,
judicial review of agency action under the administrative procedures act
is not the exclusive means of obtaining judicial review. To hold otherwise
would eliminate a choice of remedies that the legislature expressly
created.
2. Common law public policy claim. The district court found that a
wrongful-termination claim in violation of public policy cannot be
brought by a merit employee and dismissed the second count of
plaintiff’s petition on that ground.
The defendants, however, also offered an additional ground for
dismissal of the common law claim that was presented to the district
court and reprised in their appellate briefing. According to the
defendants, a common law cause of action for violation of public policy
cannot be brought when a civil service statute protects the employee
from wrongful conduct. See Van Baale, 550 N.W.2d at 156.
We think Van Baale controls here. Unlike the plaintiff’s claim
under Iowa Code section 70A.28, the plaintiff’s wrongful-termination
claim is based upon a common law theory. With respect to common law
claims of oral contract, promissory estoppel, and negligence, we held in
Van Baale that a civil service statute that provides a comprehensive
framework for the resolution of such claims provides the exclusive
remedy. Id. Walsh emphasizes that this case involves a claim for
wrongful termination in violation of public policy, a claim not raised in
Van Baale. While this case does involve a common law claim not raised
in Van Baale, we find the case indistinguishable.
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IV. Conclusion.
For the above reasons, we conclude that the district court erred in
dismissing the plaintiff’s claim under Iowa Code section 70A.28. We find
that the district court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of
defendants on the common law claim for wrongful termination in
violation of public policy. We do not address alternate grounds for
summary judgment, which were not ruled upon by the district court and
not argued on appeal. We remand the case to the district court for
further proceedings.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.